Dialogue between cultures in Tzeltal teachers' cultural discourse: co-construction of an intercultural proposal for science education

Abstract

The cultural discourse of native Tzeltal teachers who put into practice an intercultural proposal to teach physics at high school level in native communities in México is analyzed in this ethnographic investigation. A theoretical pedagogical approach is developed with regard to the idea of initiating a dialogue between cultures, which will serve to develop the actual open curriculum in the school context. This research shows how the indigenous teachers co-construct an intercultural curriculum dealing with a science proposal, when they are allowed to introduce their cultural perspectives within it. These intercultural curriculums are important advances in order to enrich the scientific education for all the population. We identify the complexities of this dialogue showing how teachers contextualize and apparently dispel the myth of the universality of scientific knowledge and enrich the teaching perspective by appropriating the proposal through autonomous enculturation of science. The teachers use social criteria in order to incorporate those aspects of science that fit their own culture and are beneficial for their community.